LOR dilemma

[Reconciled Hope]

So I have scoured this forum for something that may hint at giving me an answer to my question, but I haven't found anything.

Here's my question: I am obviously a reapplicant that had 5 letters of recommendation last year. I was interviewed and waitlisted at one school. I spoke to the admissions rep and she said to improve my MCAT score, and patient experience, otherwise my application looked good including recs and interview.

I have improved my MCAT from 27 to 30. I have over 900 hours as a nurse technician (if that's not direct patient experience I don't know what is) and have since graduated with a bachelor's degree.

Although I have improved in those areas, I had a professor (who also happened to be my advisor and research PI) pull their letter of recommendation before this reapplicant period due to a few disagreements we had toward the end of my undergraduate career. It was withdrawn in July and I just found out about it last week (mid-October). Since then I have asked another professor who knows me and my abilities well to write a strong letter and he agreed.

Will this be detrimental to my gaining admission to medical school if the new letter is strong as well? Do my actions in improving my MCAT and PCE outweigh the withdrawal of this LOR? I'm curious as to what your thoughts are...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[J ROD]

It does not look good for sure. Especially, if he made any remarks as to why, he was pulling his LOR.

Hard to say whether or not it will hurt with all the other things you have improved. That's why I always try not to burn bridges....but I still light a few up every now and then,

All you can do is apply and take your chances. Just be ready to have a good explanation if asked.

 

[Kneige]

I'm just confused...how would the schools know about one of your writers pulling his letter? Don't they only get the letters you assign to each school? I don't think this will affect your chances if you're reapplying to schools- even if you apply to the same schools.

 

[fahimaz7]

I don't think it'll matter. They will have your initial letter from the last application round, as well as your new packet of letters.

Pulling the letter is better than him updating a new one and calling you a loser.

 

[dragonfly99]

I think what you do is you try to keep the schools from finding out about this. If they do, then yes, it could hurt you. However, you don't HAVE to have a LOR from any one person, even if it is a research advisor. You just have to have enough LOR's, and it sounds like you are good in that regard. You may possibly get asked at an interview why you don't have a LOR from that person, but I doubt it. Interviewers are more likely to focus on what IS in your application, particularly unless you made some big deal/emphasis about this particular research project.

This could potentially hurt you if the prof. really dislikes you and if one of the med schools where you are applying is affiliated with your university. That is just if he decides to start calling people to trash you. Realistically, that is unlikely to happen, so I just don't see this hurting you much.

It sounds like you were knocking on the door of admission last year even with a lower MCAT score and no degree, so it sounds like with more clinical hours and a better MCAT score you should do better.

 

[J ROD]

Yeah, I really would doubt there would be a problem but be prepared in case. I really hope the professor has better things to do than try to get back a poor student trying to make it....but there are those jealous *******s...believe me!! I have some right now going from pharm to MD.

 

[dingyibvs]

So I have scoured this forum for something that may hint at giving me an answer to my question, but I haven't found anything.

Here's my question: I am obviously a reapplicant that had 5 letters of recommendation last year. I was interviewed and waitlisted at one school. I spoke to the admissions rep and she said to improve my MCAT score, and patient experience, otherwise my application looked good including recs and interview.

I have improved my MCAT from 27 to 30. I have over 900 hours as a nurse technician (if that's not direct patient experience I don't know what is) and have since graduated with a bachelor's degree.

Although I have improved in those areas, I had a professor (who also happened to be my advisor and research PI) pull their letter of recommendation before this reapplicant period due to a few disagreements we had toward the end of my undergraduate career. It was withdrawn in July and I just found out about it last week (mid-October). Since then I have asked another professor who knows me and my abilities well to write a strong letter and he agreed.

Will this be detrimental to my gaining admission to medical school if the new letter is strong as well? Do my actions in improving my MCAT and PCE outweigh the withdrawal of this LOR? I'm curious as to what your thoughts are...

How did he pull your letter? And how would schools know? I'm pretty confused as well.

 

[J ROD]

How did he pull your letter? And how would schools know? I'm pretty confused as well.

Called and said remove my letter.

They have the LORs from last year.

 

[flip26]

I'm just confused...how would the schools know about one of your writers pulling his letter? Don't they only get the letters you assign to each school? I don't think this will affect your chances if you're reapplying to schools- even if you apply to the same schools.

I have the same questions and thoughts.

And how does anybody "withdraw" a letter that has been submitted? Withdraw it from where? Your UG letter service? Or from Interfolio? Because it would seem to me that once submitted, and once you have forwarded it to, say, AMCAS, the writer has lost control of the letter.

Or as a reapplicant, had you asked him to update the letter for the new cycle, and he simply did not submit it?

 

[dragonfly99]

It sounds like the prof. was pretty mad.
I would let sleeping dogs lie.
Just go with your other letters.
If you are asked at an interview why no LOR from him, just say something like you didn't feel he personally knows you that well, you didn't spend a whole lot of time with him personally, etc.

 

[Reconciled Hope]

to answer your questions:
at my school, there is a service provided by our honors college that allows students to send all letters of recommendation there confidentially, and they send them out via interfolio to amcas and other schools. Well this summer my professor asked that the letter NOT be transmitted to schools. And I found out about it three months later, due to a few miscommunications. Honestly, I wouldn't be that worried, except I called the schools to see what my hold up was in the middle of last month and they said that they were missing a letter from a professor. I was depending on this letter to be a science professor that has issued me a grade. Well, I had another professor write another letter, but it's so late and the letter has yet to be submitted.

Lots of great advice from you! Thanks! I think it's going to be fine with the amount of people I have talked to. It would be a shame though if I had to wait more because of one mishap like this.

 

[flip26]

to answer your questions:
at my school, there is a service provided by our honors college that allows students to send all letters of recommendation there confidentially, and they send them out via interfolio to amcas and other schools. Well this summer my professor asked that the letter NOT be transmitted to schools. And I found out about it three months later, due to a few miscommunications. Honestly, I wouldn't be that worried, except I called the schools to see what my hold up was in the middle of last month and they said that they were missing a letter from a professor. I was depending on this letter to be a science professor that has issued me a grade. Well, I had another professor write another letter, but it's so late and the letter has yet to be submitted.

Lots of great advice from you! Thanks! I think it's going to be fine with the amount of people I have talked to. It would be a shame though if I had to wait more because of one mishap like this.

Well, your school screwed you more than the prof did. But the prof is a real douche bag, too, and he should have had the balls to tell you at the time he withdrew the letter so that you could find a replacement. If I am reading this correctly, and you are still trying to get your letters complete, you are really screwed for this cycle, right?

These school "letter services" are, on the whole, a bad way to go. I have heard, or read, more problems start with those services than anything else, and if you think about it, those services are an anachronism in this day and age of Interfolio (and if/when AMCAS fully gets its act together, Interfolio will be an outdated service, too).

People should get letters from profs sent directly to Interfolio by the profs, and once there, you should send the letters to AMCAS.

That way no funny business, nobody withdrawing letters, and no "miscommunication" about missing letters. With Interfolio, you control the account, and you are notified when letters show up, or by checking your account, you know when and if letters show up.

PS - you do know that if you told AMCAS to expect his letter, you now need to notify them to say it isn't coming? That way schools will never know that they are missing a letter...

 

[Simplify]

I agree with flip26 100%.

 

[Reconciled Hope]

PS - you do know that if you told AMCAS to expect his letter, you now need to notify them to say it isn't coming? That way schools will never know that they are missing a letter...

Well, I don't have to worry (for this situation at least). My school sends the packet of letters. The medical schools don't know which letters exactly, they just know that they have a packet of letters coming.

AS for the schools knowing, that's how I found out this professor pulled the letter... I called my #1 school of choice and the admission rep said, "we're missing one of the required letters that you are supposed to have from a science faculty member" That was a complete surprise to me so I investigated further at the source (the letter service people) and found out this professor pulled the letter four months ago (three months before I found out!)